Marley Shelton

Marley Shelton first captured the attention of filmgoers as Margaret, Tobey Maguire's love interest, in New Line Cinema's critically acclaimed film Pleasantville and continues to appear in roles that show her versatility as an actress. She currently stars as the female lead, Rachel Young, in Jerry Bruckheimer's Eleventh Hour on CBS.

Coming up this year is the independent feature Untitled, directed by Jonathan Parker, in which she plays Madeleine, a Chelsea art gallery owner who falls for a music composer, played by Adam Goldberg. The film is set for a September 18, 2009, release and will be distributed by The Samuel Goldwyn Company. Shelton was most recently seen in director Sebastian Gutierrez's comedy Women in Trouble, which premiered at this year's South by Southwest Film Festival. Shelton stars in the role of Cora in an ensemble cast made up of Josh Brolin, Carla Gugino, Connie Britton, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Simon Baker, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Adrianne Palicki, in the film which chronicles the lives of 10 Los Angeles women over the course of one day. Also this year, she will appear in the Tim Chambers directed film Our Lady of Victory, which is currently in postproduction. Shelton plays Sister Sunday, a nun at an all-women's Catholic college in the 1970s. The film also stars Carla Gugino, Ellen Burstyn and David Boreanaz.

Other notable recent work includes her roles in Oliver Stone's biopic W. and the Robert Rodriguez/ Quentin Tarantino double-feature collaboration Grindhouse, in which she was prominently featured in Rodriguez's Planet Terror as Dr. Dakota Block and had a surprise cameo appearance in Tarantino's Death Proof. The Weinstein Co. released the film on April 6, 2007. She was also in The Last Kiss, written by Paul Haggis and directed by Tony Goldwyn for DreamWorks. Shelton co-starred opposite Zach Braff, Rachel Bilson and Jacinda Barrett.

Shelton's previous work with director Robert Rodriguez was in the blockbuster hit Sin City. Produced by Dimension Films, Sin City is an adaptation of Frank Miller's noir graphic crime novel series. The film was released in April 2005 and screened at the 2005 Cannes International Film Festival. Shelton also appeared in Sony Pictures Classics' Don't Come Knocking, with Sam Shepard and Jessica Lange. The film was directed by Wim Wenders and also screened at the 2005 Cannes International Film Festival.

In 2004, Shelton was seen in the indie comedy Grand Theft Parsons, alongside Johnny Knoxville, for director David Caffrey. Inspired by a true story, the film follows Phil Kaufman (Knoxville), Gram Parsons' road manager, as he steals the musician's body from the mortuary and races it to California in an attempt to fulfill a lifelong pact. Shelton played Kaufman's love interest. The film also stars Christina Applegate, Robert Forster and Michael Shannon.

In 2003, Shelton was seen in the MGM's Uptown Girls, starring alongside Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning. Directed by Boaz Yakin, this comedy focuses on a New York City socialite (Murphy) who takes a job as a nanny after losing a bundle of money.

In 2003, Shelton co-starred with Marisa Tomei, Kyra Sedgwick and Ron Eldard in the romantic comedy Just a Kiss for actor-turned-director Fisher Stevens. Shelton also starred in Touchstone Pictures' comedy Bubble Boy as the woman who causes her neighbor and secret admirer, a young man without an immune system (Jake Gyllenhaal), to travel to Niagara Falls in a plastic bubble to stop her from getting married. Directed by Blair Hayes, the film was written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio.

Shelton starred in New Line's comedy Sugar & Spice for director Francine McDougall and producer Wendy Finerman. She starred opposite Mena Suvari, Marla Sokoloff and James Marsden, as a popular cheerleader who becomes pregnant with the star quarterback's child, only to find herself turning to a life of crime to support the lifestyle to which she has grown accustomed. That same year, Shelton starred in Warner Bros.' suspense thriller Valentine, produced by Dylan Sellers and based on a novel by Tom Savage. Shelton starred opposite David Boreanaz, Denise Richards and Jessica Capshaw, as Kate Davies, a newspaper journalist and one of four elementary school friends who have all been marked for death by a killer taking revenge for a Valentine's Day prank.

In 1999, Shelton was seen opposite Chris O'Donnell and Renée Zellweger in New Line's romantic comedy The Bachelor, directed by Gary Sinyor. Shelton played Zellweger's supportive sister in this update of the 1925 Buster Keaton silent comedy Seven Chances. She was also seen opposite Drew Barrymore and David Arquette in the Fox 2000 Pictures feature Never Been Kissed.

In 1998, Shelton co-produced and starred in the short film Protect-O-Man, directed by her father Christopher Shelton. The film is a black comedy about an agoraphobic whose disorder is augmented by a stalker on the prowl in her neighborhood. She seeks extra protection and solace in a plastic safety blow-up doll and ends up falling in love.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Shelton attended UCLA where she majored in film and theater. She supported herself through small parts in feature films, television movies and episodic television. Her hobby grew into a passion while she studied acting with Larry Moss and, as a result, she decided to pursue a career as an actress.

Shelton made her feature debut in Grand Canyon. Her additional film credits include The Sandlot; the role of Tricia Nixon Cox in Nixon, with Anthony Hopkins; and in Warriors of Virtue.

Shelton resides in Los Angeles.

Note: This profile was written in or before 2009.Read earlier biographies on this page.